Children’s Commissioner commends cross party support for Child Poverty Reduction Bill

The Children’s Commissioner is delighted by the announcement this afternoon that the Child Poverty Reduction Bill will receive cross party support.

“I think this is fantastic news” Commissioner Becroft says. “It is a giant step forward in addressing child poverty and all parties concerned deserve credit and congratulation.

“It is truly gratifying to see our leaders working together and rising above political differences to advance such a critically important piece of legislation.”

The broad based support the bill will now enjoy means the issue of child poverty will come out of any narrow party political agenda, the Commissioner believes. It is something most people in the sector had been hoping for and will mean parliament can quickly move to make genuine progress that focusses on all children especially, those in most need.

“The real beneficiaries of this act of genuine bipartisan leadership will be New Zealand’s 1.12 million children and young people, and especially those 80,000 who are doing it really tough”, the Commissioner says.